Question 1

Color constancy explains why ________.

Accepted Answer

Color constancy is the phenomenon where our brain adjusts the color of an object to remain constant despite changes in lighting conditions. This means that we perceive an object as being the same color regardless of whether we see it in bright sunlight or dim candlelight.

Question 2

Color, shape, size, and brightness are all types of perceptual ________.

Accepted Answer

Constancy refers to our ability to perceive objects as having a consistent shape, size, color, and brightness even when their physical characteristics change due to factors such as distance or lighting.

Question 3

An infant watches her father walk down a long hall toward her as he somehow magically grows from being just three feet tall to six feet tall. The infant has not yet acquired ________ constancy.

Accepted Answer

The answer of An infant watches her father walk down...

Question 4

When you stand to the side of a window frame, it casts a trapezoidal (nonrectangular) image on your retina. It still seems rectangular to you, though, because of ________.

Accepted Answer

Shape constancy allows us to perceive the rectangular shape of the window frame, regardless of the angle from which we view it.

Question 5

Perceptual constancy refers to the ________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual constancy refers to the tendency to perceive objects as relatively stable and unchanging, despite changing sensory information. This means that even though the sensory information (such as the size, shape, or color) of an object may change depending on the context or the angle from which it is viewed, we still perceive it as being the same object. For example, a door may look rectangular from the front, but trapezoidal from a diagonal view, yet we still recognize it as a door.

Question 6

When we look at a white house, we can recognize it as a white house by day or night and from any angle. This is due to perceptual ________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual constancy refers to our ability to perceive objects as unchanging in their color, shape, size, and brightness, even as the sensory information we receive about those objects changes. In this case, we can still recognize the white house as a white house, regardless of external factors like lighting or viewing angle, indicating perceptual constancy.

Question 7

The walls of a very long, narrow corridor appear to come together as they recede from the viewer. This distance cue is known as ________.

Accepted Answer

Linear perspective is a depth cue that refers to the way parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance, which explains why the walls of a long, narrow corridor seem to come together as they move away from the viewer.

Question 8

Stimuli with strong, clear contours in which we perceive figure and ground in two different ways, shifting back and forth, are called ________ figures.

Accepted Answer

Reversible figures have strong, clear contours that allow the viewer to perceive both figure and ground in two different ways, causing them to shift back and forth between the two interpretations. This creates the illusion of the figure appearing to reverse or flip.

Question 9

When you look into a room illuminated by fluorescent lights, the white walls appear to you to be white. However, if you take a photograph of that room the walls are likely to have a greenish tint. This is because ________.

Accepted Answer

Color constancy is a perceptual phenomenon that allows us to see colors as consistent despite changes in lighting conditions. In this case, our brain adjusts our perception of the white walls in the room based on the fluorescent lighting, so they still appear white to us. However, photographic film does not have this ability to adjust for lighting conditions, so the walls will appear with a greenish tint in the photograph.

Question 10

Visual distance and depth cues that require the use of only one eye are called ________ cues.

Accepted Answer

Monocular cues only require the use of one eye to perceive depth and distance, such as linear perspective, texture gradient, and relative size. Binocular cues require both eyes, such as stereopsis or binocular disparity. Dichromatic refers to individuals with only two functioning color receptors in their eyes, and monaural refers to hearing with only one ear.

Question 11

Visual distance and depth cues that require the use of both eyes are called ________ cues.

Accepted Answer

Binocular cues require the use of both eyes and provide information about depth and distance, such as stereopsis (the perception of depth based on the slight differences between the images received by each eye) and convergence (the degree to which the eyes rotate inward to focus on an object). Binaural refers to auditory cues and has nothing to do with vision. Dichromatic refers to color blindness, which is not relevant to this question. Monocular cues provide depth and distance information that can be perceived with only one eye, such as linear perspective and texture gradient.

Question 12

Joanne walks into a dimly lit room and sees an unfamiliar object sitting on a table in the middle of the room. Research on perception indicates she is most likely to make a mistake about the object's ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Joanne walks into a dimly lit room...

Question 13

To rewrite Gertrude Stein's famous line a bit, a "rose looks like a rose looks like a rose." And it does whether you look at it from above or below, from the left or the right. This rather amazing phenomenon generally goes by the name of ________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual constancy refers to the ability to perceive objects as having a stable size, shape, color, and brightness despite changes in their retinal image as a result of changes in viewing conditions (such as changes in lighting or perspective). This is why a rose looks like a rose no matter how it is viewed.

Question 14

Whether you are standing right next to it or a mile away from it, you know a tree is the same height because of ________.

Accepted Answer

Size constancy is the perception of an object's size as being constant, even if the size of the object on the retina varies due to changes in distance. This allows us to perceive a tree as being the same size, regardless of whether we are standing next to it or far away from it. The other options (B, C, and D) are not relevant to perceiving the height of a tree.

Question 15

When one object partially blocks another, the distance cue is called ________.

Accepted Answer

Interposition occurs when one object partially blocks another, providing a distance cue. Linear perspective and texture gradient both involve changes in the size or spacing of elements to provide distance cues, while shadowing is a result of lighting rather than blocking.

Question 16

Our tendency to see objects as relatively stable and unchanging despite changing sensory information is called perceptual ________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual constancy refers to the tendency to perceive objects as maintaining their size, shape, color, and other properties despite changes in sensory information, such as changes in distance, angle of view, or lighting conditions.

Question 17

When one object partly blocks another, it provides an important distance cue called ________.

Accepted Answer

Interposition, also known as occlusion, is a distance cue that occurs when one object partially blocks another. This gives us information about the relative distance of the two objects. The blocked object is assumed to be farther away, while the blocking object is assumed to be closer. Aerial perspective refers to the haziness that occurs with distance, elevation refers to the height of an object, and motion parallax refers to the way nearby objects appear to move faster than distant objects as we move our heads or eyes. While these are all distance cues, they do not specifically relate to the blocking of one object by another.

Question 18

The distance cue in which two parallel lines extend into the distance and seem to come together at one point is called ________.

Accepted Answer

Linear perspective is the distance cue in which two parallel lines extend into the distance and seem to come together at one point, creating the illusion of depth and distance. Aerial perspective is the distance cue in which objects that are further away appear blurrier and less distinct due to atmospheric haze. Shadowing is a distance cue in which an object casts a shadow that provides information about its position in relation to a light source. Motion parallax is a distance cue in which objects closer to us appear to move more quickly than objects further away from us when we move our head or eyes.

Question 19

An object's reflection of a percentage of light relative to that of all the surrounding objects is always the same. This fact best explains ________.

Accepted Answer

The fact that an object's reflection of light is relative to that of all surrounding objects contributes to the perception of brightness constancy, which is the ability to perceive an object as having a consistent level of brightness despite variations in lighting conditions.

Question 20

Size constancy explains why ________.

Accepted Answer

Size constancy refers to the tendency for our brains to perceive objects as having a constant size, even as their distance from us changes. This means that objects are perceived as having constant dimensions regardless of distance.

Quiz 3: Sensation and Perception